Crucible of Ideas

One Regular Day

The town was gently wrapped in early afternoon sunshine.

The sun shone dazzlingly in the perfectly clear, blue sky, illuminating the people who came and went on the stone-paved streets.

The main street was lined with shops whose signboards advertised foodstuffs, daily necessities, books, and a variety of other goods.

Before their doors clerks cried their wares, holding up the goods on display and extolling their virtues to anyone who stopped to listen.

Beside them horse drawn carts loaded with goods were busily racing past.

The usual sights of a peaceful town.

As I stared through the window at the scene, I, Lilia Flimlight, let out a little yawn.

Sitting in my chair, leaning on the counter and resting my chin in my hands, I wiped away the tears that had risen in the corners of my eyes.

A few more tears oozed out when I blinked.

"Ah, I'm so sleepy. The weather's nice and warm, too, so I guess it's no wonder I ended up wanting to take an afternoon nap," I mumbled.

Even indoors the gentle weather enveloped me, coaxing me towards drowsiness.

If I let my mind wander, it would soon creep up on me and tempt me off to sleep.

I shook my head lightly in an effort to dispel my drowsiness, but unfortunately that had no great effect.

Be that as it may, I couldn't allow myself to fall asleep here.

For the time being, I was in charge of minding the shop.

Business might be in a slump, but I couldn't abandon my duty.

In an effort to drive off the persistent drowsiness somehow, I extended my arms, still seated, arched my back and stretched.

As I did so, the hem of my short smock lifted and my belly button peeked out briefly.

"Oops." I cast a furtive glance around me, wondering if that might not be a bit improper for a girl.

I don't know if "lucky" is the right word for it, but there was no one to find fault with me.

There wasn't a soul in the dim little shop aside from me.

It was filled with a quiet atmosphere, in contrast to the bustle outside.

"Although I guess it is nice that I get to take it easy," I said to no one at all in an effort to cover my embarrassment.

My painstakingly maintained vigilance wavered, and I let out another huge yawn.

Then I turned in a circle, surveying the inside of the shop.

"Flimlight's Odds and Ends," a small shop on the town's main road.

That was the name of the shop big brother and I ran, and which was also our home.

True to the name, we stocked a great variety of goods.

To start with, there were antidotes and medicines for treating wounds.

Then came knives, lamps, and a miscellany of flints and compasses, as well as amulets and rings infused with magical power.

Besides all that, there was a mountain of goods I couldn't readily identify piled in one corner of the shop.

It didn't look like anything but junk to me, but the things in it sometimes turned out to be shockingly valuable, so I couldn't to treat it lightly.

To be honest, I had no clear idea what more than half the items arranged around the shop were used for.

Medicines and daily necessities were one thing, but I'd given up hope when it came to the specialty goods needed by adventurers.

In most cases our customers knew what they needed on their own, so just minding the store was no trouble.

That was a relief.

Besides, even with the best will in the world you couldn't say that the customers who came into this shop were many.

Big brother and I ran it just the two of us, so that was probably preferable to being so busy we couldn't keep track of everything, but even so I couldn't deny that it sometimes made me sad and uneasy.

If anyone asked me what I wanted, I'd have wished for it to be a bit more prosperous.

"Hmm... I wonder if I can think up any good ideas."

Chin still cupped in my hands, I stared up into empty space and pondered.

I considered several possibilities, but ultimately there wasn't much that could be done with a little family-owned shop.

I was probably better off letting things remain peaceful and uneventful than I would be attempting some hare-brained scheme and failing.

I remained in my chair as I thought, and there was not the least sign of a customer coming to justify my presence there.

"Like I thought, there's nothing for me to do," I mumbled, throwing myself down on the counter.

I tried staring aimlessly at the goods in the shop, but there wasn't much there to draw my interest.

If there had been clothes or accessories I could have enjoyed myself thoroughly, but no matter how long I stared at the goods sold here there was nothing of interesting to an ordinary girl.

After a fleeting glance at the wares, I returned my gaze to the window.

Beyond it was a peaceful-looking townscape, unchanged since I had last looked.

A cat lay on the ground in front of the shop across the way, basking in the sun.

The sight of its contentedly closed eyes made me just a little bit jealous, and I shifted my gaze.

Then, the figures of a boy and girl walking hand in hand right in front of the shop were reflected in my eyes.

From the impression of closeness the two gave, I guessed they were lovers.

The girl didn't look that much older than me. She'd clearly put a lot of effort into dressing up, and a lovely bag was hanging from her shoulder.

They were probably on their way to play somewhere.

The girl's smiling face was turned to the boy walking beside her, and she seemed to be talking to him of this and that.

The boy responded to her words and flashed an occasional smile.

I couldn't hear the content of their conversation, but from their expressions I could tell they were having fun.

"A date, maybe?"